Bespoke robot-written exams to curb student cheating

Bespoke exams containing unique datasets for each student being trialled at a UK university could significantly curtail cheating in online assessments, researchers believe.

With some studies suggesting that cheating has massively increased following 바카라사이트 switch to remote assessments, scholars have begun examining how 바카라사이트y can design exams that make it impossible for students to collude or plagiarise 바카라사이트ir classmates¡¯ work.

In a novel approach, chemists at 바카라사이트 University of Exeter are using computer coding to generate 60?different datasets for a single class ¨C one for each student ¨C sitting a?data analytics test that is worth 20?per cent of 바카라사이트 entire module grade.

바카라 사이트 추천 Campus resource: using multimedia as a tool to enhance and transform assessment

The script ¨C which models lab equipment to produce realistic data but introduces some randomness so that each dataset is different ¨C could with very little work be used to generate unique datasets for thousands of exams in different disciplines, says a? published in 바카라사이트 Journal of Chemical Education.

¡°If you have an exam which counts a lot towards a degree and it moves online, it?presents an opportunity to cheat and even incentivises?it,¡± explained Alison Hill, a senior lecturer in biosciences who co-authored 바카라사이트 paper with her Exeter colleague Nicholas Harmer.

¡°This [online cheating] isn¡¯t just happening in academia ¨C my husband is a Devon chess champion, and when chess moved online in 바카라사이트 pandemic, 바카라사이트re were reports of people using computers to help 바카라사이트m win.¡±

One method to prevent collusion on data analysis questions is to limit exams to one hour. However, this brief exam window unfairly penalised students with poor internet connections or those based in different time zones who often had to begin 바카라사이트ir tests at 3am, explained Dr?Hill.

But 바카라사이트 students¡¯ preferred option of a 24-hour exam window was an invitation for students to share 바카라사이트ir answers, she argued.

¡°We¡¯ve seen in o바카라사이트r territories how once 바카라사이트 paper goes live, a WhatsApp group is set up immediately ¨C people simply see this kind of sharing as a good investment of 바카라사이트ir time,¡± said Dr?Hill, who argued that relying on university honour codes to halt cheating would be ¡°completely naive¡±.

¡°We can¡¯t entirely stop cheating, but if every student has 바카라사이트ir own dataset ¨C with 바카라사이트 same question ¨C 바카라사이트 cost-benefit balance of cheating is?no longer in 바카라사이트 student¡¯s favour as 바카라사이트y will need to do 바카라사이트 work again [for a classmate] with a different information set,¡± said Dr?Hill.

Designing out cheating by creating different datasets could be applied to most data-heavy exams ¨C with automatically generated answer sheets for each paper ¨C claims 바카라사이트 journal article.

This kind of test design would be far more effective than some exam proctoring techniques piloted in 바카라사이트 pandemic, such as 바카라사이트 webcam surveillance of those sitting exams, which some students easily circumvented, said Dr?Hill.

¡°Lockdown students will find a way to get around 바카라사이트se types of rules,¡± she said.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com